Hi Lander,
Some of this may be redundant to my response in your other thread but here goes.
Prior to intermittent self catherization (ISC) I was retaining over a liter of urine after forceful urination using the Crede Method. So at that point I had very little bladder sensation until the bladder was probably holding 1.5 liters.
I began ISC on a six time a day schedule to keep my post volume residual (PVR) below 400 ml, which is the usual magic number. They tell you to try and naturally void before each ISC. In the beginning I wasn't able to most of the time, but after a few months I was able to naturally void say 50 per cent of the time. After the natural void I would then perform ISC.(
Fast forward to today where my ISC schedule is sometimes as little as once or twice a day, and sometimes I don't even need it. Yesterday, for example, I naturally voided all day (no ISC) and this morning had zero PVR as measured by the ISC.
The point is that ISC can potentially rehabilitate your bladder. My rehabilitated bladder now is able to empty either completely or at least under the 400cc theshold most of the time. Prior to self catherization, it would have been zero per cent of the time.
I'm not quite sure how this would translate into your case since you've been on an indwelling catheter so long. On one hand your bladder has gotten quite a rest, but on the other you haven't needed to use your detrusor muscles to urinate, so they may have weakened.
Unless you are going for surgery, I don't see what you have to lose by trying ISC for six months or so. You'll have the freedom of not having to wear a catheter 24/7 and potentially you will start seeing results like I did.
You say, "the thought of SC scares the hell out of me". The way you feel is the way most people feel and that is one reason why most people don't go that route. The other of course is that most doctor's are programmed to either treat you medically or with surgery.
All I can say is this. I doubt if you are any more anxious than I was when I started. I am not exagerating when I say that I almost passed out the first time the nurse showed me how to do it. It wasn't from the pain, but I think mostly from the mental trauma.
After that, I had a rough month or two, primarily because I was using the wrong catheter and that I developed a UTI that the doctor didn't treat properly.
Three months later I found another urologist who treated the uti agressively, and at the same time I started using a more gentle catheter. Again, I'm not exagerating when I say that when I do ISC now it's about as traumatic as brushing my teeth, and actually takes less time!
You may be one of the lucky ones that has an easy go from the start, or you may be like me and have a rough couple of months initially, or you may fall somewhere inbetween. But once your body adapts to the catheter (I"m told the average is 2-5 weeks) you will wonder what the big deal was all about. In fact, it's possible your body won't have to adapt at all since you've already been wearing an indwelling catheter.
Looking back, I can say it was 100% worth the initial discomfort, because it has given me an option for life to be able to quickly and completely empty my bladder, whenever I want, without medications or surgery.
Jim